A year since you felt that you were caving in to what you thought was a weakness…an embarrassing flaw.

A year since you read Emily‘s blog post about not feeling right after having a baby and tried to brush away the fact that all the commenters suggesting she seek help? Were talking to you too.

A year since Cort read the post and thought it rung true for you too.

A year since you sat and had yet another horrible ugly cry meltdown in your brown chair, and since Cortney sat across from you and suggested you call the doctor.

A year since the call.

A year since the visit.

A year since the first little pill.

It would be two more months yet before I could admit this to the world, but at least I had admitted it to myself. And to Cort.

It would be even longer before you would decide you also needed AND wanted to talk to a therapist, but by then you had discovered that you were not, in fact, blogging in isolation…there was an entire world…blogasphere, if you will…out there.

You made very close friends because of your postpartum depression. Not only did people in your life come forward in emails and private asides about their struggles, but you met Casey (through Emily) who let you know you aren’t alone.

And from there you met Katherine and Lauren and Miranda and Grace and Kimberly and Amy–women who have become so very important to your daily life. They are you…us. They have shown you that they are us and are successful, and have downfalls and bad days, but they bounce back. And so can we.

In this past year you…

…have learned to communicate better with Cort.

…found patience you didn’t know you had.

…been able to work through Eddie’s meltdowns instead of having one of your own.

…stopped bottling your feelings because you were afraid of them.

…accepted that you have something chemically different in your brain now than you did before.

…realized you can’t “do it all”…at least not alone.

…have tried to become a voice for all those who feel the way you do…who have traveled your path…but are silent.

…have started to accept yourself.

You have come so far. I am proud of you in so many ways. And so are others. Cortney, you families, your friends…they love to see YOU.

It’s not over, though.

You didn’t hit the year mark and get a nice release form to turn in stamped “DONE”.

This is not over.

Your anxiety is back and you may be dealing with depression for the rest of your life. Right now you are struggling with this. You need to accept that this is what it is. Life is different now, but those things don’t define you.

You have the tools to get through the rough parts now.

Cortney has a new job. The transition is much harder for you than you would like to admit to people.

He has always been home to make your world less chaotic. Of the 21 months that you have had a child together? He has been home for 17 of them.

You feel completely thrown into whirlwind of utter confusion. You feel lonely and abandoned.

This is the anxiety talking.

You can do this. You just need to adjust. And it’s TOTALLY OK to need an adjustment period. DO NOT feel bad about that.

You also need to forgive yourself.

Yes, your undiagnosed PPD made you all crazy and mean and awful to be around.

But you got help.

Everyone has forgiven you.

Even those you were the worst to. Yes, even Cort and your mom have forgiven you.

You need to let go of how terrible you were. You need to let it go so you can go forward.

They have let it go. They never EVER hold it against you. You need to stop holding it against yourself.